A Simple Reminder
by Dreams Of A Shipper
Summary: My first Fanfic! Spoilers! Look away now! Levi is trying to cope with the loss of his squad. He has lost the only people he considered family, and now he needs a gentle nudge to remind him what they died for and to give him the push to go on. Some LeviXPetra because they are the best ship ever! Just a simple piece, nothing too deep! Rated T for safety


**Hi everyone! Ok, this is my first fanfic (finally!) but definitely not my last! I have sooo many more LeviXPetra stories planned, this one just wrote itself in very little time!**

 **Anyway, please be kind! I was half asleep writing this and no one to spell check it... Let me know what you think, it's only a fluff piece anyway! Have more serious, fleshed out stories up my sleeve for later! :)**

 **Oh and written on my Ipad, which loves to sneakily sub words for me for no apparent reason, so watch out!**

 **Ok..enough nervous rambling! Hope you enjoy! (Don't own any characters etc, they were just gifted to us to borrow!)**

 **God bless :)**

The brown envelope sat on its same spot on the table. It seemed too large, like it had taken its own existence and was sitting there breathing, glaring, accusingly at him. His chest was even tighter and heavier than usual. A darkness he'd never expected could be any worse, had seeped into his core.

How had it happened?

Again.

He'd let them in, all of them. His squad had become the unwanted family he never expected. He hadn't realised how important they were to him, beyond just his Captainly duty of seeing fellow soldiers return home.

No, it was much more than that. They were each important to him.

Eld was his first recruit. Impressive leadership skills and impeccable instincts. Levi figured, with regret and pride, that he'd one day command his own team.

Eld was easy going and funny, a real charmer with the women when he wanted. The team suspected he had a girl, but kept it to himself.

Why for, Levi wasn't sure, but he understood and respected it was his business. He almost preferred it that way, which he suspected was one of the reasons Eld kept it under wraps and the Captain appreciated it.

Aurou was his second recruit, soon after Eld. His kill count was far and above anyone else's, surprising considering the man it came from. He was a loud mouthed show off and was always trying to be like him. It had annoyed him at first, but he soon learned to think of it as good. It meant, while not always the way he would actually have done things himself, that things were done to his standard and liking in all fields.

And underneath all the airs and graces, Aurou was a good hearted person, the welfare of his team topping everything else. (He also had a serious thing for Petra, but Levi tried his best to ignore this. The guy could hardly be blamed.)

Günter was next. As serious and reserved as they came, Günter was the quiet kind that saw and thought of everything. He was a clever fighter and Levi appreciated the focus of his last male recruit. He could always be relied on to keep a cool head and was also a good buffer in the team when things got heated. He hated in house fighting. Claimed there was enough of that outside the walls. Which, as usual, he was right about. He fit in perfectly with the other two men he'd chosen.

They were Levi's brothers, of badge and adopted family.

But they weren't the last to join his elite squad.

That honour fell to his only female soldier.

Petra had surprised him. He hadn't expected such ferocity from such a bubbly person, but her kill count spoke for itself. She excelled at kill assists, team work being her strong suit. She was so caring and in tune with her comrades it had instantly caught his attention. He'd seen her joke and laugh around with her team mates one minute, then fly into action, a different person the next.

In a blur of motion, he'd seen her effortlessly join in a silently coordinated attack with a struggling soldier. She hadn't needed words, she knew how to compliment the soldiers movements, and they'd swiftly taken out the 8 metre abnormal.

After she'd laughed off the apologies and thanks, saying it was nothing before patting the mans shoulder and shooting back to her assigned position.

Levi had known then and there she was the final piece of the puzzle.

(He also couldn't deny the stronger feelings surfacing without his permission as he grew to know and care deeply for her.)

There had been some kinks with the team, naturally, but it took no time before they were the well oiled machine expected from Captain Levi's hand picked Elite Survey Corps Squad.

He relied on them, they relied on his leadership.

He was proud to be called their Captain.

Now though... Now he'd failed them. He hadn't even been there to help them, to die with them. And they were wiped from his life, just like Farlan and Isabel. He'd felt the cold, hard slap of reality biting him again, laughing at him for being stupid enough to think he, of all people, could have a family.

Or a lover.

He'd flew past his brothers in arms, heart heavier with each death he came across.

He felt that same fury and pain from losing Farlan and Isabel, but this time he knew how to contain it behind his expert mask.

Who to aim it at, too.

He showed no change as he passed them, one by one.

Where was she?

Had she gotten away?

No! He wouldn't allow himself the luxury of thinking that, of allowing his foolish heart to continue its desperate plea of hope.

Sure enough, she came into his view, broken and burst against a tree. He couldn't stop himself, he attached to said tree and lowered slightly, taking in the empty gaze and blood smeared face.

His heart clenched with harsh agony and he swore, deep in his core two things; Revenge and to never get that close to anyone again. Especially as close as he had with Petra.

She'd broken through his walls, finding the door to his heart he realised he'd never fully locked. She'd breathed light and love he'd never dreamed of into his soul.

And now she was gone.

His fist started shaking at his side, gaze still locked on the envelope upon the desk.

Strange, how something so pivotal could hold such meaning to him now.

The last string of attachment in a simple haunting mockery. He could almost still see her there the night before, working ceaselessly...

Petra scribbled lightly in the candlelight, eyes darting between her half filled page and Hanji's tilted script.

The woman was meticulous about her notes, which helped Petra a lot. It made her work so much easier to do.

She was vaguely aware of a soft tread of footprints behind her, a rustle of crisp, clean clothes as the wearer bent to the copper haired beauty.

Petra smiled distractedly as his lips found her neck and whispered their way to her ear.

"I can't focus on getting this done if you do that, Captain," she teased easily as her writing slowed and his hand traced the length of her neck under his lips.

"Good. Come back to bed, Petra," his deep, rich voice lulled in her ear. He reached forward and pried the quill from her hand, sliding the documents across the desk. His lips never stopped their exploration.

"And who exactly is going to get them done, hmm?" She reclaimed her work, turning to her beloved Captain-turned-lover. "What if something happens to me tomorrow? Then this will never get done, not to my expert standards," she half joked.

Levi growled and grasped her chin, turning her head so he could glare down into her amber eyes.

"Don't even joke about that," his dark eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion as he stared her down. She sighed and turned her whole body towards him.

"I was only teasing. We've made it through every expedition and mission before this. The risks are the same as ever. We know how to handle ourselves," she gently coaxed him down to her by the shirt, sealing her lips across his. "Tomorrow will be no different."

"Well then, if tomorrow won't be different, you'll be here to finish your work. So you can come back to bed now, then," he smiled slightly at his victory.

Petra laughed, a lovely melodic sound that he loved to hear echo through the castle during the day when Eld, Günter and Aurou joked with and teased her affectionately.

"Alright then, I'll finish it tomorrow. Yikes, I know you're my Captain and all but still, you can be really bossy," she teased him some more, loving when he opened up and responded by laughing or teasing back. It only happened in the privacy of their chambers, where he really relaxed.

He was a whole new person then. No, not new, she corrected herself, free.

He responded this time by grabbing her by the waist and pulling her to him, a slight ghost of a smile starting to slip through his exterior armour.

"Well, that's because my subordinate refuses to cooperate, even when she's urgently needed else where."

They were slowly walking towards the bed then, trading slow, sweet kisses on their travels. They tenderly undressed each other and disappeared under the covers, savouring the feel of warm skin on soft skin, lips grazing across each other and happy sighs and giggles (Ok, well the giggles were purely Petra, but he smiled and even chuckled a bit in return!).

After they had exhausted themselves, he held her safe against his chest, her fingers trailing across his bare muscles delicately. They talked and kissed before starting to drift asleep, fulfilled and content beside each other.

"You know, Levi, I don't think I'll ever get used to this fully," she spoke softly against his arm, her back nestled to his side. He was absently minded tracing the length of her hip and ribs, but opened his eyes at that.

He turned his gaze to her and she gracefully turned in his strong grasp. A smile was dancing on her features and deep into her golden eyes.

"But I hope I'll get the chance to."

He smiled and brushed a kiss across her forehead.

"Unless you're planning a trip..." He teased lazily, feeling her shake slightly with a ripple of laughter.

"And leave all this interrupted paperwork?" She kissed him long and deep, his body naturally curling around hers.

"Never."

Violently snapping from what he'd horrifically realised was his last non comrade moment with her, Levi ripped up the file off the table and strode to the fire.

It's pulsing heat battered against him and he raised his hand, ready to fling in the damned paperwork.

Just as quickly as it came, his anger zapped out of him though.

He opened the file instead, her wavy handwriting calling to him.

He slowly sat as he read her words, pertaining to an incident with a couple of 15 metres, in which Levi and his team were able to save several soldiers and some civilians during a breach.

The way she phrased everything... They were like things of legends and stories, all heroic and well executed actions. She really held her teammates and, to his satisfaction, her role in the squad, to a high level of importance and meaning.

It made something in him glow softly with grudging pride.

They had done their jobs, above and beyond. They were the reason countless soldiers and civilians had lived. That had been their job, what he'd picked them for.

And they'd kept that up until the very last.

One part Petra had written caught his eye in particular.

"It was with great honour and a proud sense of duty that we were able to willingly put ourselves at risk. This is what it means to be a soldier. Accepting the fact that it could mean our death, but staring it down and protecting our own regardless.

That is what Captain Levi has taught us to do.

That is why the Levi Squad was able to take on the situation, taking over from the designated area's team.

Its because we are here to protect and free humankind from the Titans."

She went on about the rest of their impromptu rescue mission, but he had read the words he needed.

Dropping the file back on the table, Captain Levi stood, drawing his small figure taller than ever before.

He'd be damned if he was going to sit here and sulk.

His team hadn't died for nothing. As Petra had perfectly put, they were here to protect humanity.

And right now, more than ever, they needed that. Needed him.

He straightened his clothes, recovering his usual cool demeanour and headed for the door.

Glancing back, he looked at what a few minutes ago, had been a curse.

Now it was her precious last gift to him. Even gone from this world, she knew what he needed to hear.

"I won't let you down, any of you. I'll win this for us...for you.

Petra. Wait for me. I'll see you again someday."

The door closed behind him and sealed his promise into the room, now filled with a last loving memory and a new, hopeful one.


End file.
